RICHMOND, Va.  As he sat in a hospital, watching blood ooze from his son Colin's gunshot wounds, Andrew Goddard negotiated with a higher power: Let my son live, and I will do what I can to spare another parent this torture.

Colin survived, despite the four bullets fired into him by Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho.

Now his father is making good on the deal: He and relatives of others killed or injured on the campus in Blacksburg will lobby for changes to the state's gun and mental health laws during the General Assembly session that begins Jan. 9.

Together, they hope to be a powerful lobbying force with the potential to make changes in areas that have historically had gained little traction with Virginia legislators.

"They stand in the position unlike no one else that will be in this whole process," said state Sen. Kenneth Cuccinelli. "And they will get listened to."

Since the April 16 shootings, in which Cho killed 32 others and himself after a long history of mental illness, several of the victims' families have demanded stricter oversight of gun purchases and a revamping of the state's mental health system. Nine survivors and 16 families of those killed signed a letter urging Congress to strengthen the background check system for weapons purchases.

Cho was able to pass a background check and buy two guns despite having been deemed mentally defective by a Virginia court. In response, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed an executive order requiring that anyone ordered by a court to get mental health treatment be added to a state police database of people barred from buying guns.

However, people can still buy guns through other means that require no background check in Virginia, such as gun shows where scores of people sell or swap firearms.

Efforts to close the so-called gun show loophole have failed repeatedly, and even Andrew Goddard -- the most outspoken family member on the issue -- acknowledges that getting lawmakers to close it this year will be a struggle.

"It's a tremendous uphill battle," he said. "I have no doubt that we're going to suffer severe defeats."

But Goddard is ready to fight. He is organizing an advocacy day next month at the Capitol that will include a "lie-in," in which participants will lie on the ground to represent the shooting victims. His son plans to make a speech. And other families have already begun speaking out during pre-session legislative meetings.

However, persuading Virginia lawmakers to impose any restrictions on gun ownership is nearly impossible, said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.

"The gun control issue is political dynamite in Virginia," Farnsworth said. "There's no question that they are as effective a group of lobbyists as one can imagine for gun control issues, but there are a lot of people with a lot of money and a lot of interest in politicians who are pro-gun in Virginia -- and that hasn't changed after the Virginia Tech tragedy."

State Del. Jim Scott, who favors closing the gun show loophole, is less certain.

"In any case of trying to change opinions, you really have to be well-organized, focused and be sure that you have all the facts," Scott said. "And my guess is they will be all of those."

The families have another factor on their side: emotional impact.

"A lot of what they bring to the table is a discomfort factor," Cuccinelli said. "You don't want to be ruling against families that are in this kind of pain."

There was evidence of that discomfort at a recent meeting of lawmakers and journalists, when several victims' relatives challenged a legislator who opposes closing the loophole.

Joseph Samaha, whose daughter Reema was killed in the shootings, asked state Sen.-elect Robert Hurt: "What is the fear of someone having to go through the background check?"

Hurt responded that closing the loophole would infringe on a person's right to possess a firearm.

"Is it a nuisance factor?" Samaha challenged.

Hurt paused, then said: "More important, it's a liberty factor."

The families will encounter many other lawmakers who share Hurt's views, but they're determined to forge ahead.

"I am compelled to work on these issues so that no one has to suffer the pain and loss that those parents and families have gone through and continue to go through," said Lori Haas, whose daughter Emily survived a gunshot wound. "If the General Assembly had worked harder and done what was right to protect innocent people, we might not have lost as many lives as we have in the last number of years in all types of gun violence."

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, acknowledged the families' pain, but plans to push lawmakers to protect gun owners' rights as usual this year.

"They're certainly going to draw sympathy -- they have my sympathy -- to have lost someone the way they did," he said of the families. "On the other hand, we cannot be ruled as a nation by emotion. We have to look at this thing logically, and to try to control gun shows from what happened makes no sense. Cho did not get his guns from a gun show."

The families pushing to close the loophole are quick to point out they're not anti-gun; several are gun owners themselves, including Mike White, whose daughter Nicole was killed.

"We're not looking to take rights away from the individual that wants to buy a gun and act responsibly," White said. "We're looking to keep the criminal from easily purchasing the gun."

Greg and Linda Gwaltney, whose son Matthew was killed, also are gun owners. They plan to push lawmakers to close the loophole and also hope lawmakers will reform Virginia's mental health system.

The governor has already proposed more funding and other changes to the state's mental health system that closely mirror the recommendations of an independent panel that investigated the shootings.

A lack of understanding of the system's complexities and pitfalls has kept lawmakers from acting until now, said state Del. Phillip Hamilton, an authority on mental health legislation. But the shootings fast-tracked the issue to the top of the agenda, he said.

"If no Virginia Tech parent or victim even contacted us or came forward, I think you're going to see some significant changes," Hamilton said.

The families are not uniform in their beliefs, however. Holly Sherman, whose daughter Leslie was killed in the shootings, understands it may be healing for some of the families to lobby for changes to gun and mental health laws. But she considers it a futile effort.

Sherman hopes others will focus on what she feels are commonsense measures: running public service announcements to educate parents about potentially dangerous behavior in their children, ensuring schools properly handle troubled students and holding surprise emergency drills at schools.

"There are some very inexpensive and easy measures to take immediately that can have as much or more positive effect than new laws for lawyers to fight and/or give people more fodder for lawsuits," she wrote in an e-mail.

But for Andrew Goddard, changing the laws is essential.

"If I can save one family from that or one family from standing by a gravestone, then it's worth it," he said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

An unidentified person is carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., in this April 16, 2007, file photo, after a shooting incident. A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom on the campus, killing at least 30 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. (AP Photo/The Roanoke Times, Alan Kim/FILE)